THE `ABDALWĀD KINGDOM
OF TILIMSĀN
Situated in the west of the middle Maghrib, which is now Algeria, Tilimsān became the centre of an important state which lasted from 1238 to 1554. Its history illustrates the failure of attempts by outside superpowers to control the Maghrib, as once the Romans and Byzantines did, then the eastern caliphate, and later the Spanish and the Ottomans, before the French. Likewise it illustrates, during the periods of independence from outside control, the failure of attempts to put the whole Maghrib under one government and the typical and perhaps natural division of the Maghrib into three states, as we know it today.
The kingdom of Tilimsān was a kingdom of Arabized Berbers that rose from the ruins of the Muwaid empire. During the period of its existence it had to contend at home with a restless mostly Berber population, and abroad with the Marīnids of Morocco and the „afŖids of Tunisia. It finally fell victim to the power struggle between the Spanish and the Ottomans.
The `Abdalwād kingdom of Tilimsān has not received much scholarly attention. The Islamic dynasties of C.E. Bosworth does not even include its series of rulers. Our main primary sources are `Abdarramān ibn-Khaldūn, al-`ibr wa-dīwān al-mubtada' wa-l-khabar fī ayyām al-`Arab wa-l-`Ajam wa-l-Barbar, part 3 (Būlāq, 1867); see also the French translation Histoire des Berbčres by Le Baron de Slane, newly edited by Paul Cassanova, vol. 3 (Paris: Geunthner, 1934); Yayā ibn-Khaldūn, Bughya ar-ruwwād fī akhbār al-mulūk min Banī-`Abdalwād, ed. & tr. by Alfred Bel, Histoire des Beni `Abd el-Wād, rois de Tlemcen, in three volumes (Algiers, 1904, 1911, 1913), and Muammad at-Tanasī, Na¹m ad durr wa-l-iqyān fī dawla Banī-Zayyān (Paris: Bibliothčque Nationale, ms. 5173). None of these covers the entire period. Some 19th century French researchers did some work of unequal value, (1)while the 20th century has seen some important studies. (2) Other sources that are used are indicated as they come up. The Arabic sources tell their stories with much detail. My aim is to summarize the main political events, noting any discrepancies and utilized information discovered by later researchers, to present a coherent overall history of the `Abdalwād kingdom. The rich Ŗūfic and theological aspects of this period are discussed in my Ph.D. thesis. (3) The political history of Tilimsān cannot be understood without situating it in the broader religious, social and political history of the Maghrib. I therefore first review the course of Maghrib politics from the establishment of Islam there before treating the Tilimsān kingdom according the its series of rulers.
Islamic states of the Maghrib before the rise of Tilimsān
Islam first appeared in North Africa with the raids of Ibn-abī-Sar in 646 and Mu`āwiya b. Hudayj in 666, who ventured into Tunisia. Permanent occupation came in the time of the first Umayyad caliph, Mu`āwiya, when in 670 `Uqba b. Nāfi` founded Qayrawān in the middle of Tunisia, and from that beachhead struck across to the Atlantic. His victory, though spectacular, was only temporary. The Byzantines still held the coastal towns, while the sedentary Berbers, led by Kusayla, defeated and killed `Uqba in 683. In the meantime „asan b. an-Nu`mān al-Ghassān drove the Byzantines from Carthage and in 702 defeated the nomadic Berber army led by the famous Kāhina ("priestess"). „asan was then replaced by Mūsā b. NuŖayr, who completed the subjection of the rest of North Africa, and the conquest was extended to Spain by Ćāriq in 709.
Initially this whole territory was governed from Qayrawān by a representative of the Umayyad caliphs in Damascus. The Umayyad policy of Arab supremacy over conquered non-Arabs,even though they became Muslim, provoked a new Berber revolt. It took the form of Khārijism, the movement which originated with the supporters of `Alī who broke with him when he submitted to a negotiated abdication of the caliphate to Mu`āwiyya. Their main tenets were that serious sins constitute a denial of the faith, and that all the faithful are equal, so that anyone, "even a black slave", could become caliph. Starting in Morocco in 739-40, the Berber Khārijites came near to sweeping all North Africa before them, but were defeated in attempting to take Qayrawān in 741. The Umayyad caliphate fell to their `Abbāsids, based in Baghdad, in 749. The weakened government of Qayrawān fell to the Khārijites around 755. An army from Egypt under Ibn-al-Ash`ath retook it in 761, but it fell again in 771. The caliph's army came back in 772 under Yazīd b. „ātim and secured Tunisia. The Khārijite centres of Jabal Nafūsa, south of Tripoli, and Jarīd in southwest Tunisia were wiped out, but Khārijism continued in the kingdom of Tāhirt and in Sijilmāsa (founded in 757). In the meantime, one Ąāli of the Barghāwa tribe proclaimed himself the Mahdī and began teaching a variant Islam of his own.
Khārijite power in the central Maghrib had to contend with two new centres of power. To the west, Idrīs, the great-grandson of „asan, son of `Alī and Fā³ima, founded a kingdom roughly corresponding with present-day Morocco; his son Idrīs II founded its capital, Fez, in 808. To the east, Ibrāhīm b. Aghlab in 800 founded the Aghlabid dynasty based in Qayrawān, covering a territory somewhat wider than present-day Tunisia. The latter kingdom enjoyed the benefits of recognizing the `Abbāsid caliph, but for all practical purposes was completely independent.
The Maghrib at this time, apart from political strife, was feverish with religious asceticism, holy men and theological controversy. The literalist thought of al-Ash`arī (d. 935) gained the upper hand over the Mu`tazilite teachings of the creation of the Qur'ān, free will, symbolic interpretation of the Qur'ān and the denial of distinct divine attributes as incompatible with God's unity. In the area of law too, the strict school of Mālik b. Anas (d. 795) won out over the rival school of Abū-„anīfa (d.c. 767), thanks to the efforts of Sanūn, author of the famous Mudawwana.
Towards the end of the ninth century the Fā³imid movement moved to the stage of North Africa. Ever since the fall of `Alī, his partisans worked toward a restoration of his family to power. The Fā³imids are those Shī`ites who insist that the caliph must be or represent a descendant of `Alī and his wife Fā³ima, and not any other member of his wider family. Around 864 in Salamiya, near „āma in Syria, `Ubaydallāh issued his claim to the Fā³imid succession and sent propagandists to all parts to preach his cause. Of these, Abū-`Abdallāh met in Mecca some pilgrims of the Kutāma tribe who had come from the area just west of Constantine in Algeria. Coming back to Kutama country, he formed an army, marched into Ifrīqiya (Tunisia) and drove out the Aghlabid amīr. He then summoned `Ubaydallāh, who came in 910 and took the titles al-Mahdī ("the divinely guided") and amīr al-mu'minīn ("commander of the faithful"), and founded the city of Mahdiyya as his capital.
Al-Mahdī extended his power as far east as Barka, but failed twice to take Egypt. Turning west, he defeated the Khārijite kingdom of Tāhirt in 911, then that of Sijilmāsa With some difficulty he overthrew the Idrīsids, but the Umayyads, who continued to rule in Spain after losing the caliphate in the East, were a source of harassment to the Fā³imids, especially by their alliance with the Zanāta and other nomadic Berber tribes.
The son and successor of al-Mahdī, Abū-l-Qāsim al-Qā'im (934-956), failed three times to take Egypt, and at home had to cope with rebellions because of his severity. A Khārijite resurgence, led by Abū-Yazīd, a man from Jarīd of Zanāta and Sudanese extraction, succeeded so far as to besiege the caliph in Mahdiyya in 945. But the Kutāma and Ąanhāja tribes remained loyal, and by 947 the Khārijites were put down once and for all, although continuing to exist without power to this day at Jabal Nafūsa, Jerba, Wargala, Ghardāya and the Mzab region. Upon his success, the caliph Ismā`īl took the name al-ManŖūr ("the one given victory") and built a new capital, ManŖuriyya, near Qayrawān.
Al-ManŖūr's son, al-Mu`izz (953-975), in two campaigns pacified the whole Maghrib, giving it an unaccustomed spate of peace. His general, Jawhar, then satisfied Fā³imid ambition by conquering Egypt in 869. In 873 al-Mu`izz made Cairo his capital, where the Fā³imid caliphs reigned for two centuries. The Kutāma contingent of the army were the caliphs' support in Egypt, while the Ąanhāja were left in charge of the Maghrib.
Bulukkīn (974-984), whose father Zīrī had governed the middle Maghrib in the name of the caliph, was the first of the Zīrid line of Ąanhāja governors of the Maghrib. Bulukkīn guilt and governed for his father the three cities of Jazā'ir (Algiers), Miliyāna and Mahdiyya. Upon becoming amīr, he put down the ever reasserting independence of the western Maghrib and deported the entire population of Tilimsān to his own stronghold, Ashir. When he and his successors took up residence in ManŖūriyya, the former capital of the caliph, the middle Maghrib capital of Ashir was left to the Banū-„ammad branch of the Ąanhāja line which before long made themselves independent. The Zīrid governor al-Mu`izz in 1017 failed to put down the rebels, and left matters as they were.
While breaking with the Zīrid governors and the Fā³imid caliphs, the Banū-„ammad recognized the fading `Abbāsid caliphs. Popular orthodox reaction to Shī`ism in the Maghrib also forced al-Mu`izz to bread with the Fā³imid caliph, whereupon the Banū-„ammad tried to switch allegiance back to the Fā³imids in order to claim authority over the whole Maghrib. To reduce the Maghrib to subjection, the Fā³imid caliphs decided to relieve upper Egypt of the troubles of the Arab tribe Banū-Hilāl and unleash them upon the Maghrib. From 1050 onwards they swept over Ifrīqiya and the middle Maghrib "like a plague of locust, destroying everything in their way" (Ibn-Khaldūn). Ifrīqiya was left in anarchy while the Zīrids took refuge in Mahdiyya. The Banū-„ammad abandoned their capital for Bujāya, which they had founded some years earlier.
While anarchy prevailed in the middle and eastern Maghrib, the Murābi³ (or "Almoravid") movement appeared in the west. Its protagonists were nomads of a Saharan Ąanhāja people converted to Islam in the 9th century. Toward the middle of the 11th century their chief Abū-`Abdallāh Yayā b. Ibrāhīm made a pilgrimage to Mecca, and on the way back in the area of southern Morocco engaged `Abdallāh b. Yāsīn to teach his tribesmen Mālikī law. With certain other tribal notables they established a ribā³ (fort) on an island off Senegal. From this centre Ibn-Yāsīn, through his general Yayā b. `Umar, conducted expeditions subjecting or raiding the desert tribes to the north and the blacks to the south. Yayā died after taking Sijilmāsa in 1055-6, and his brother Abū-Bakr took over command of the army. His deputy for the north, Yūsuf ibn-Tashfīn, founded the city of Marrākish in 1069, took Fez, Tilimsān Wahrān, Tanas, and was about to take Algiers when events in Spain diverted him.
The Umayyad dynasty in Spain had disappeared in 1034, leaving the debris of many small independent principalities. Into this Ferdinand I of Castile (d. 1065) and his successor Alfonso VI launched the reconquista. In desperation, al-Mu`tamid of Seville called for Ibn-Tāshfīn's help. In two expeditions, in 1086 and 1090, Ibn-Tāshfīn restored the situation, uniting Spain under his own authority except for Saragosa, which served as a buffer state. His son `Alī inherited a vast state, but also the Murābi³ attitude of pious rusticity which restricted itself to the casuistry of Mālikī law, repressing things like music and theological interpretation. But this attitude was ineffectual against the Spanish spirit, and Arab Spanish philosophy, theology, art and culture overflowed into the western Maghrib. Nevertheless the reconquista continued, and the Muslims fell once more into anarchy upon `Alī's death in 1143.
In the meantime, in reaction both to the narrow Mālikism of the Murābi³s and the Ąanhāja domination of the Zanāta, a new force was forming, the Muwaids (or "Almohads") = "those who profess the unity of God"). It was led by Ibn-Tūmart, a theologian who believed in figurative interpretation of the Qur'ān and the Mu`tazilite position on divine attributes, but otherwise was an Ash`arite. He held that the Murābi³ Mālikīs, whose literal interpretation of the Qur'ān led them to anthropomorphism, were guilty of denial of the faith, and were therefore as legitimate object of jihād. Ibn-Tūmart claimed the mission of a mahdī, and took as his capital the strategic town of Tinmel, about 70 kilometres south-southwest of Marrākish, in 1125. With his general `Abdalmu'min, he combined military severity with popular propaganda in the Berber language to lay the foundations of a kingdom based on his ideology.
On Ibn-Tūmart's death in c. 1128, `Abdalmu'min took the title of caliph or successor of Ibn-Tūmart. Finishing the conquest of the Western Maghrib in 1146, he moved on to Spain and restored order there, putting it under his control. He then marched against the remains of the Banū-„ammad kingdom in the east and took their capital Bujāya in 1151, at the same time putting down the Banū-Hilāl Arabs in the area. He then moved into Ifrīqiya, whose interior was prey to Hilālian raids and whose coast was controlled by Roger II of Sicily. Ifrīqiya was pacified and the Sicilian force gave up Mahdiyya, their last post, in 1160.
No more than any of their predecessors, could the Muwaids hold the Maghrib together. In Spain Ibn-Mardanāsh started a serious revolt against the Muwaids which was put down in 1161. From 1184 the whole middle and eastern Maghrib was in the hands of Arab and Berber bands under `Alī b. Ghāniya, with the approval of the `Abbāsid caliphs. In Spain Alfonso VIII was on the move, but met defeat at Alrcos in 1196. The Muwaid caliph an-NāŖir (1199-1214) took advantage of the calm in Spain to bring Ifrīqiya back into subjection, and established Abū-Muammad b. abī-„afŖ as governor.
Alfonso VIII then inflicted a serious defeat on an-NāŖir at Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212, which turned the tide against the Muwaids. Dynastic struggles and revolutions followed, during which Ferdinand III, by 1248, conquered all of Spain but Granada. In Ifrīqiya the „afŖid governor Abū-Zakariyā' in 1228 made himself independent, taking Tunis for his capital in 1236-7. In Tilimsān Yaghmorāsan b. Zayyān started the independent dynasty of Banū-`Abdalwād in 1235-6. In the western Maghrib the Marīn tribe, which was growing in power since 1216, took most of the country of Fez during the reign of the Muwaid Sa`īd (1242-1248), and in 1269 finished the Muwaid dynasty by taking Marrākish.
The Muwaid rule marked a high point in culture and learning in the western Maghrib. During their time lived the philosophers Ibn-Ćufayl (1100-1185) and Ibn-Rushd (1126-1198). Music flourished and many splendid architectural monuments were constructed.
The `Abdalwād/Zayyān dynasty of Tilimsān
Tilimsān is known commonly in the French from of Tlemcen. Three Arabic forms occur: 1) Tilimsān comes from the Berber Tilimsīn, which is a combination of Tilim (joins) and sīn (two), meaning that the city links the land and the sea, according to Ibn-Khaldūn, although this is questionable, (4) 2) Talshān, a modified combination of tall (tel, or mound) and sha'n (importance), meaning an important place, 3) Tinimsān, a variation of the former. (5) There was a settlement there in Roman times, called Pomaria and it later was settled by Zanāta Berbers. (6) It was ruled by a branch of the Idrīsids until the Fā³imids took it over. It changed hands several times before passing to the Murābi³s. The Muwaid `Abdalmu'min destroyed the city and massacred its inhabitants in 1145, but later rebuilt it. With the destruction of Tāhirt, it became the most important city in the central Maghrib.
1) Abū-Yayā Yaghmorāsan b. Zayyān b. Thābit b. M. (1239-1283)
This Berber name, sometimes appearing in the form "Ghamorsan", is composed of two Berber words: Yaghmor or Ghamor (claw) and san or assan (their), meaning that he is the claw or defender of the tribe. (7) Yayā ibn-Khaldūn gives 603 or 604 H. (1206-9) as the date of Yaghmorāsan's birth. (8) His descendants are known from their ancestor as the Banū-Zayyān; they belonged to the nomad tribe of `Abdalwād, which was a branch of the Zanāta. Attempts to attach the Zayyān ancestry to Muammad or even to Arab stock, as was done by the obsequious at-Tanasī, (9) are, as Ibn-Khaldūn previously observed, fictitious. (10) According to at-Tanasī, (11) Yahgmorāsan took advantage of the Muwaid weakness to lead his tribesmen into the Tilimsān region, exacting yearly tax from the local people and obedience to their tribal chief (kabīr-him) Jābir b. Yūsuf b. Muammad, who was a relative of Yahgmorāsan. (12)
At that time the Muwaid governor of Tilimsān was Abū-Sa`īd `Uthmān b. Ya`qūb al-ManŖūr, brother of al-Ma'mūn Idrīs b. al-ManŖūr, who was the Muwaid puppet of Ferdinand III. This Abū-Sa`īd imprisoned some chiefs of the Banū-`Abdalwād and refused the request of some Murābi³ partisans in Tilimsān for their release. Angered at the refusal, they broke open the prison, releasing the Banū-`Abdalwād notables, and imprisoned Abū-Sa`īd in their place, in 624/ 1227. The Murābi³ upstarts broke with their Muwaid overlord and planned a restoration of the Murābi³ empire. Seeing that the Banū-`Abdalwād leadership opposed their design, their chief invited the Banū-`Abdalwād chief Jābir to a feast at which he planned to kill him. Arriving at the gate of Tilimsān, Jābir became wise to the plot, killed the Murābi³ chief, and proclaimed the authority of the Muwaid caliph al-Ma'mūn, who recognized him as his amīr of Tilimsān.
Jābir was killed by an arrow while besieging a town in the course of consolidating his kingdom. His son al-„asan succeeded him, but after six months abdicated in deference to his uncle `Uthmān. `Uthmān poorly administered the government, and was driven from Tilimsān in disgrace. Abū-`Izza Zayyān b. Zayyān was elected in his place, but was killed in putting down the revolt of the B. Ma³har and B. Rāshid. Yahgmorāsan was then proclaimed king. This was in 633/ 1235, according to Ibn-Khaldūn, but 7 Jum. II 637/ 4 Jan. 1240 according to at-Tanasī. (13) The latter date may refer to his declaration of independence from the Muwaid caliph, to whom Yahgmorāsan remained faithful initially. Ibn-Khaldūn does mention only good relations with the Muwaid caliph, Rashīd, and says nothing about a break. The caliph at this time was Rashīd `Abdalwāid b. Idrīs al-Ma'mūn, who sent Yaghmorāsan a magnificent present in the hopes that Yaghmorāsan would continue to recognize him and name him in the public Friday prayer. Yaghmorāsan refused, and ar-Rashīd meant to march against him, but was prevented from doing so by his death in 1247 (sic, Julien). Nor was ar-Rashīd's successor, his brother as-Sa`īd (124248) in a position to make any opposition.
After some time Abū-Zakariyā' b. `Abdalwāid a. Ja`far al-Hashītī of Tunis sent a gift to Sa`īd, thinking he was still master of the whole Maghrib. Yaghmorāsan judged the present his own by right and laid hold of it. Abū-Zakariyā' waited for Sa`īd to react to this insult and, when he did not, declared himself independent and moved with an army against Tilimsān in 639/ 1241-2. As he laid siege to the city, Yaghmorāsan fled to the mountains of the B. Warnīd. Abū-Zakariyā' entered the city and looked for a governor of the city from among his officers, but they all refused. He then declared that "Tilimsān should have no other master but the one it wants", (14) and so made up with Yaghmorāsan, combining with him against the Muwaids.
When the Muwaid caliph Sa`īd found out about the combination against him, he formed an army which his rivals, the B. Marīn, joined, and they marched against Tilimsān. At their coming, Yaghmorāsan fled to a castle at Tāmzīzdīt, which Sa`īd besieged. In the battle to take this castle, on Tuesday at the end of Ąafar 646/ June 1248, Sa`īd was killed and his head was sent to his mother by Yaghmorāsan. One prize of the battle was a copy of the Qur'ān reputed to have belonged to `Uthmān b. `Affān, which was later taken by the Marīnids to Fez. (15)
Yaghmorāsan consolidated his power by expeditions in the surrounding territory, particularly against the Tujjīn and Maghrāwa Berber tribes. On 25 Rabī` II 652/ 14 June 1254 some European mercenaries in the service of Yaghmorāsan plotted with his brother Muammad to kill the king. The plot failed, and the Europeans killed Muammad, missing the king. The European troops were then massacred to a man. (16)
The Marīnid dynasty, now established in Morocco, rivaled and was in frequent conflict with the `Abdalwāds of Tilimsān. They defeated Yaghmorāsan many times and in Ąafar 673/ Aug.-Sept. 1274 they took Sijilmāsa from his control. They twice besieged Tilimsān itself but could not take it.
Yaghmorāsan married his son Abū-āmir (17) to the daughter of Abū-Isaq abū-Zakariyā' of Tunis, but on the way back with the princess he died on 29 Dhū-l-Qa`da 681/ 27 Feb. 1283 at the age of 76, having reigned 44 years, 5 months and 12 days.
2. Abū-Sa`īd `Uthmān b. Yaghmorāsan (1283-1304)
Returning from Tunis, Abū-`āmir concealed his father's death, saying that he was ill in his litter, until he reached Tilimsān territory, where he met his brother Abū-Sa`īd, who was then proclaimed successor to his father. (18) Abū-Sa`īd extended his power eastward, even raiding the neighbourhood of Bujāya, which belonged to Tunis. In the same year and the next he carried on expeditions against the Maghrāwa, taking their town of Māzūna, and the Tujjīn, taking their fortresses of Taferjennit, (19) and the Wansharīs. Then he welcomed into Tilimsān Abū-`āmir `Abdallāh An'ājub, the fugitive son of Abū-Ya`qūb Yūsuf of Fez, who had conspired with the wazīr Ibn-`A³wā against his father. In Rabī` II 688/ April-May 1289 he took the Maghrāwa town of Tanas and the Tujjīn town of Almedesh. The same year the traveller Abū-M. al-Adbarī visited Tilimsān and noted the magnificence of its buildings but the utter poverty of the people. (20)
In 689/1290 the ruler of Tunis sent a gift to Abū-Sa`īd, hoping to assure peace with him. Later that year Abū-Ya`qūb Yūsuf of Fez, angered because of Abū-Sa`īd's welcome to his rebellious son, marched against Tilimsān, but retired without taking it. Abū-Sa`īd thereupon punished the Maghrāwa and the Tujjīn who had revolted in this crisis. The remaining years of Abū-Sa`īd's reign were occupied in putting down rebellious subject tribes and in repelling the expeditions of Abū-Ya`qūb Yūsuf. The latter in all made five expeditions against Tilimsān; in the last one he constructed a town which he named ManŖūra, just outside Tilimsān, and began a long siege of Tilimsān, during which Abū-Sa`īd died on 1 Dhū-l-Q. 703/ 5 June 1304, after ruling twenty-one years less one month.
3. Abū-Zayyān M. b. abī-Sa`īd (1304-13)
Born in 659/ 1260, (21) Abū-Zayyān succeeded his father and lived through the long and bitter siege of Tilimsān. (22) The siege was lifted after eight years and three months by the dagger of a eunuch named Sa`āda who had once belonged to the kindly and learned Abū-`Abī l-Malyānī. Abū-Ya`ūb Yūsuf had killed the latter and taken all his goods, including the eunuch. The latter ended his second master's life while he was sleeping on Wednesday 7 Dhū-l-Q. 706/ 10 May 1307. (23)
Abū-Sālim, Abū-Ya`qūb Yūsuf's son by a concubine, claimed his father's throne, but his nephew Abū-Thābit, son of the Abū-`āmir who had been given asylum in Tilimsān, with the connivance of Abū-Zayyān, overthrew his uncle and made peace with Abū-Zayyān, restoring to him all his territory. Abū-Zayyān then turned eastward and subjected the rebellious Maghrāwa and Tujjīn tribes. The future looked bright when he returned to Tilimsān and died on 22 Shawwāl 707/ 5 April 1308, after ruling seven days less than four years.
4. Abū-„ammū Mūsā (1308-1318)
The brother and close associate of Abū-Zayyān, Abū-„ammū, succeeded him and continued in the direction of prosperity and expansion begun by his brother. In 712/ 1312-13 he annexed Algiers, which had been an independent city for fourteen years after breaking with Tunis. (24) In 714, leaving his son Abū-Tāshfīn in charge of Tiliimsān, Abū-„ammū led an expedition against a rebel named Rāshid b. Rāshid b. M. of the Maghrāwa tribe. The latter fled to Bujāya, which was under Tunisian control. Abū-„ammū then sent his cousin Mas`ūd b. abū-`āmir b. Yaghmurāsan and Muammad b. Yūsuf b. Yaghmurāsan to besiege Bujāya and reduce the country beyond it to subjection. At the same time he sent Mūsā b. `Alī al-Ghuzzī (25) with an Arab army to subdue the desert area.
The two generals fell out with one another, and Abū-„ammū sided with Mas`ūd, sending M. b. Yūsuf back to Tilimsān and dispatching separate orders to his son Abū-Tāshfīn to imprison M. b. Yūsuf. Abū-Tāshfīn refused, and sent M. b. Yūsuf back to the army. After this Abū-„ammū acted coolly towards his son and gave preference to Mas`ūd. Consequently Abū-Tāshfīn conspired against his father and, surprising him with an armed band, killed him on 22 Jumāda 718/ 22 July 1318. (26)
5. Abū-Tāshfīn (1318-1337)
Under Abū-Tāshfīn, born in 692/ 1293,(27) the prosperity of the preceding reign continued, especially in building projects, in which the skills of many European slaves were employed. (28) The first military enterprise of Abū-Tāshfīn was to put down the revolt of Muammad b. Yūsuf. In the east he renewed the siege of Bujāya, Būna and Constantine, while his generals Yayā b. Mūsā al-„ajjī and Ibn-Abī-`īmrān al-„afŖī took Tunis itself. (29) In these straits, the Tunisian amīr Abū-Yayā Abū-Bakr appealed to Abū-Sa`īd of Fez for help, and offered his daughter in marriage to Abū-Sa`īd's son Abū-l-„asan.
Abū-Sa`īd agreed and sent and ambassador to Abū-Tāshfīn asking him to raise the siege of Bujāya, but no result was achieved. Abū-Sa`īd then died and was succeeded by Abū-l-„asan, who also sent ambassadors for the same purpose; the ambassadors were chased away dishonourably. Because of this and because of Abū-Tāshfīn's assistance to rebels in Marīnid territory, Abū-l-„asan decided to move against Tilimsān. While he was conquering the western territories of Tilimsān, the amīr of Tunis rallied and attacked from the east. A revolt of Abū-l-„asan's brother at Sijilmāsa delayed matters a while, but the war continued until Tilimsān was taken and Abū-Tāshfīn and his family were killed, on 28 Rama²ān 737/ 30 April 1337.
6. Abū-Sa`īd (1348-)
The Banū-`Abdalwād dynasty was ended for the time being. `Uthmān b. Yayā b. M. b. Jarrār, a protégé of Abū-l-„asan, ruled as his representative, while scions of another branch of the `Abdalwād family, the brothers Abū-Sa`īd and Abū-Thābit b. abī-Zayd b. abī-Zakariyā' b. Yaghmurāsan, marched with Abū-l-„asan against Tunis. They took Tunis and were about to attack Qayrawān when Abū-Sa`īd and Abū-Thābit and their troops went over to the enemy and defeated Abū-l-„asan on 10 Muarram 749/ 10 April 1348. Thereupon, in Rabī` I 749/ May-June 1348, Abū-Sa`īd was proclaimed amīr and went back to Tilimsān with his followers, joined by the Tujjīn and Maghrāwa tribesmen. After winning a battle against `Uthmān b. Jarrār's forces, they entered the town on 22 Jumāda II of the same year/ 17 Sept. 1348. (30)
Abū-l-„asan rallied and landed by sea at Algiers, where the Arabs of the locale and the Tujjīn tribe joined him to retake Tilimsān. But Abū-Thābit, brother of the sovereign of Tilimsān and in charge of the army, went out, joined by troops of the Maghrāwa tribe, and defeated Abū-l-„asan.
A while later an incident occurred between some members of the Maghrāwa and the B. `Abdalwād tribes, because of which Abū-Thābit started a campaign against the Maghrāwa. Abū-`Inān, son of Abū-„asan and new sovereign of Morocco, protested against Abū-Thābit's action and, when his protest was disregarded, he marched against Tilimsān. The Tilimsān sovereign Abū-Sa`īd was killed in battle on 11 Jumāda I 753/ 25 June 1352.
Abū-Thābit retreated with the remainder of the army to Algiers but was pursued. Finally, in an attempt to flee to the east disguised and accompanied only by his wazīr and two nephews, he was captured near Bujāya, taken to Tilimsān and handed over to Abū-`Inān to the B. Jarrār tribe, who killed him in revenge for the death of `Uthmān b. Jarrār, the former governor of Tilimsān. (31)
7. Abū-„ammū Mūsā II (1359-1389)
When Abū-Thābit was captured, his nephew Abū-„ammū, whose father Abū-Ya`qūb (d. 763/ 1361-2) (32) led a Ŗūfic life away from the political life of his two brothers, managed to escape to Tunis, where he was treated royally by Abū-Isāq, the „afŖid sovereign. There he gathered supporters and returned to conquer Tilimsān on 8 Rabī` I 760/ 6 Feb. 1359.
In 761/ 1359-60 the Moroccan sultan Abū-Sālim marched against Tilimsān. Abū-„ammū fled the city, which was taken, but after a few weeks Abū-„ammū regained it and the rest of his territory that the Marīnids had occupied. He restored many of the buildings which had been ruined in this and previous Moroccan occupations and built a school, al-Madrasa al-Ya`qūbiyya in honour of his father, and put Abū-`Abdallāh b. Amad al-„asanī in charge of it. (33)
Abū-„ammū had many children; eight of his sons were to occupy his throne for various lengths of time. In 776/ 1374-5 a severe famine hit the land. Abū-„ammū had to face much opposition, particularly from an `Abdalwād pretender, Abū-Zayyān, who was supported first by the Marīnids and then by the „afŖids. The Marīnid sultan `Abdal`azzīz conquered Tilimsān on 1 Muarram 771/ 4 Aug. 1370, took over all the `Abdalwād territory and put Abū-„ammū to flight. The death of `Abdal`azzīz at the end of Rabī` II 774/ Oct. 1372 permitted Abū-„ammū to recover his kingdom and return to Tilimsān. Abū-„ammū's restoration did not spare him the struggle with the continual rebellion of Arab and Berber tribes. His own son Abū-Tāshfīn `Abdarramān killed the royal secretary, Yayā ibn-Khaldūn, a crime which Abū-„ammū overlooked. Incursions into Morocco invited the reprisal of the Marīnid sultan Abū-l-`Abbās, who came and occupied Tilimsān. A coup in Fez in 786/ 1384 forced Abū-l-`Abbās to abandon Tilimsān to Abū-„ammū, but not before he wrecked the splendid palace built by Spanish artisans.
At the end of 788/ Jan. 1387 Abū-Tashfīn `Abdaramān overthrew his father and imprisoned him in Algiers. Abū-„ammū escaped and retook Tilimsān, but Abū-Tāshfīn captured his father once more and, to get rid of him, sent him on a pilgrimage to Mecca. Going by sea, Abū-„ammū disembarked at Bujāya and, gathering an army, doubled back to Tilimsān, entering it in 790/ 1388. Abū-Tāshfīn fled to the sultan of Fez, and returned with an army. In the battle which took place towards the end of 791/ Sept. 1389 Abū-„ammū was killed at the age of 68, having ruled 31 years. (34)
8. Abū-Tāshfīn `Abdarramān (1389-1392)
In return for the help of the Moroccan sultan Abū-l-`Abbās, Abū-Tāshfīn was obliged to place the former's name in the Friday prayers and pay him a yearly tribute.
Before long, Abū-Tāshfīn's brother Abū-Zayyān began attacking him, and in Rajab 792/ May-June 1390 besieged him in Tilimsān. A Moroccan force came to the relief, and Abū-Zayyān fled to Abū-l-`Abbās in Fez. The Marīnid sultan's favour passed to Abū-Zayyān and sent him with an army to take Tilimsān when Abū-Tashfīn died on 17 Rabī` II 795/ 2 March 1393, having ruled three years, four months and sixteen days.
The sultan Abū-l-`Abbās then sent Abū-Zayyān to Fez, while the Sultan's son Abū-Fāris led the Moroccan army into Tilimsān, proclaiming the sovereignty of his father, once more putting a stop to the dynasty of Banū-`Abdalwād.
9. Abū-Thābit Yūsuf b. abī-Tāshfīn (1393)
The Marīnid rulers held Tilimsān for about one year, until Muarram 796/ Nov.-Dec. 1393, when Abū-Fāris was called back to take the Moroccan throne in place of his deceased father Abū-l-`Abbās. Then Tilimsān regained its independence. The new ruler, Abū-Thābit, however, was poisoned after forty days by his uncle Abū-l-„ajjāj.
10. Abū-l-„ajjāj Yūsuf b. abī-„ammū (1393-1394)
The new ruler took power at the end of Jumāda I 796/ early |April 1399, and after ten months, in Rabī` I 797/ Dec. 1394- Jan. 1395, was expelled by the troops of Fez, who installed his brother Abū-Zayyān.
11. Abū-Zayyān b. abī-„ammū (1394-1399)
The five year reign of Abū-Zayyān under the shadow of the Marīnids of Fez was peaceful and marked with some flourishing of learning. He founded and made liberal provision for the library of the great mosque. In 801/ 1388-9 he was driven out by his brother Abū-Muammad and wandered in search of asylum until he was killed in 805/ 1402-3. This is the last person mentioned by Ibn-Khaldūn and his information on him is brief. Ibn-Khaldūn passes over the previous two brief rulers.
12. Abū-Muammad `Abdallāh b. abī-„ammū (1399-1401)
It was not long before this ruler too came under the intrigues of the men who surrounded him. They appealed to Fez, and troops came towards the end of 804/1402 to replace Abū-Muammad with his brother Abū-`Abdallāh.
13. Abū-`Abdallāh Muammad b. abī-„ammū al-Wāthiq bi-llāh ibn-Khawla (1402-1411)
Little is known of this reign, except that learning once more began to flourish with the relative peace prevalent during it. His happy reign terminated with his natural death on 7 Dhū-l-Q. 813/ 3 March 1411.
14. `Abdarramān b. abī-`Abdallāh Muammad ibn-Khawla (1411-1412)
After only two months and a few days' reign, as-Sa`īd, the uncle of `Abdarramān, escaped from the prison where the Marīnids held him, and attacked his nephew and deposed him at the end of Muarram 814/ May 1411.
15. As-Sa`īd b. abī-„ammū (1411)
This ruler dissipated the wealth of Tilimsān by gifts to his friends and mismanagement. Accordingly, the next sultan of Fez intervened, sending as-Sa`īd's brother Abū-Mālik `Abdalwāid with an army against him. Thus after a six months' rule, as-Sa`īd was deposed.
16. Abū-Mālik `Abdalwāid b. a. „ammū (1412-1424; 1428-30)
(35)Abū-Mālik entered Tilimsān on 16 Rajab 814/ 3 Nov. 1411. His reign was distinguished by prosperity at home and the restoration of his dynasty's power in the land about. He even succeeded in placing his candidate, Muammad (or Amad) b. abī-Muammad b. abī-Ćarīq b. abī-`Inān, on the throne of Fez, giving him military support to win control of the whole western Maghrib.
Abū-Mālik's reign was interrupted by Tunisian intervention. Abū-Fāris, the „afŖid Sultan of Tunis, who regarded Tilimsān as his dependency, deposed him on the grounds of fiscal maladministration. Abū-Fāris defeated the army sent out by Abū-Mālik and when he approached Tilimsān Abū-Mālik fled. On 13 Jum. II 827/ 12 May 1424 Abū-Fāris entered Tilimsān and appointed Abū-Mālik's nephew to his place. After going west and gaining the submission of Fez, Abū-Fāris returned to Tunis. (36)
17. Abū-`Abdallāh M. b. a. Tāshfīn, known as Ibn-al-„umra (1424-1428; 1430-31
Abū-`Abdallāh, the new ruler, soon became estranged with his master Abū-Fāris, who was occupied with war with the Europeans. (37) In the meantime, the deposed Abū-Mālik failed to get help from Fez, and turned to Abū-Fāris who had deposed him, sending him his son as an envoy and letters to sell his cause. Abū-Fāris was won over and gave the young man every honour, but on his way back Abū-Mālik's son was captured and killed by Abū-`Abdallāh. Abū-Mālik himself then went to Tunis with a forged letter from his minister (ājib) Ibn-abī-„āmid saying that the people of Tilimsān are eager for Abū-Mālik's restoration, and obtained from Abū-Fāris a small army to send against Abū-`Abdallāh. In the engagement Abū-Mālik lost, and as he had foreseen, Abū-Fāris himself came out to defend his honour. Abū-Fāris placed Abū-Mālik back in power over Tilimsān in Rajab 831/ April-May 1428. Abū-Fāris had no sooner departed than Abū-`Abdallāh raised an army in the mountains, came down and retook Tilimsān on 4 Dhū-l-Q. 833/ 25 July 1430. The next day Abū-Mālik was discovered and killed. (38)
Abū-`Abdallāh's was a short victory. On hearing the news, Abū-Fāris sent his army back and besieged Abū-`Abdallāh in the mountain fortress to which he had fled only eighty-four days after his restoration. Abū-`Abdallāh gave himself up, and was brought a prisoner to Tunis, where he died in 840/ 1436-7. (39) In his place it seems that Abū-Fāris appointed a European mercenary, whom he left to govern for seven months before appointing a man from the traditional ruling house. (40)
During his rule, Abū-`Abdallāh courted the favour of the theologian and Ŗūfī, Muammad ibn-Yūsuf as-Sanūsī, but the latter refused his gifts and avoided familiarity with him, even sheltering in his house fugitives from Abū-`Abdallāh's judicial proceedings. (41)
18. Abū-l-`Abbās A. b. a. Mūsā (1431-1475)
Appointed by Abū-Fāris, Abū-l-`Abbās took over Tilimsān on 1 Rajab 834/ 15 March 1431. (42) The beginning of his reign was marked with energy in endowing religious schools, punishing criminals and establishing order and security in his domains. At-Tanasī adds: "He had the greatest veneration for the walī, the holy man, the polar star of his time, the powerful intercessor, the shaykh of ascetics and model of pious men, Sayyid „asan b. Makhlūq [Abarkān]. He paid him frequent visits, made use of his advice and placed most of his affairs under his direction." (43)
In 837/ 1433-4, seeing Tunis threatened by the Europeans, Abū-l-`Abbās declared himself independent. Abū-Fāris started off against him, but died before he could get there. (44)
Another threat came from Abū-l-`Abbās' brother Abū-Yayā. In 838/ 1434-5 the latter mustered a force and marched upon Tilimsān. Failing to take it, he established himself in Wahrān (Oran). There were many battles between him and his brother until the month of Sha`bān 852/ Oct. 1448, when Abū-l`Abbās' army took Wahrān by storm.
In the meantime, a member of another branch of the family, Abū-Zayyān M. al-Musta`īn bi-llāh, left Tunis with an army and took Algiers on 19 Rajab 842/ 4 Jan. 1439. Abū-Zayyān was assassinated but the population of Algiers on 2 Shawwāl 843/ 7 March 1440, but his son al-Mutawakkil continued the conquest as far west as Wahrān. Tilimsān was weakening. Although an insurrection which took place in the city on 27 Ram. 850/ 16 Dec. 1446 was unsuccessful, the regional chiefs and nomadic Arabs dependent on Tilimsān proceeded to revolt, leaving the region in anarchy. Into this situation al-Mutawakkil moved his army, taking milyāna, Mustaghānam, Tamzaghrān, Wahrān, and finally Tilimsān on 1 Jum. I 866/ 1 Feb. 1462. Abū-l-`Abbās was exiled to Granada.
19. Abū-`Al. M. al-Mutawakkil `alā llāh b. a. Zayyān M. b. a. Thābit b. a. Tāshfīn b. a. „ammū Mūsā (II) b. a. Yq. b. a. Zayd b. Zk. b. a. Yy. Yaghmurāsan (1462-1473)
Only a few months after taking over Tilimsān, al-Mutawakkil had to face a. `Amr `Uthmān of Tunis before the gates of Tilimsān. He accepted the overlordship of `Uthmān, who then went away. (45) Soon afterwards the deposed Abū-l-`Abbās returned from Spain with an army and besieged Tilimsān for fourteen days before he was killed, on 13 Dhū-l-„. 867/ 29 Aug. 1463. The partisans of Abū-l-`Abbās then rallied around another leader, M. b. `Ar. b. a. `Uth. b. a. Tāshfīn, and tried again to take Tilimsān, but failed. Another rebellious and marauding chieftain, M. b. Ghāliya, was defeated on 13 Shawwāl 868/ 19 June 1465, and his head brought to Tilimsān. (46)
Al-Mutawakkil tried to rule as independently as he could, but trembled and showed submission any time `Uthmān seemed to be on the move. At the end of Jum. II 868/ mid-Feb. 1464, the Qā²ī of Tilimsān, M. b. A. al-`Uqbānī (47) arrived on one of his missions to Tunis, bringing a present from al-Mutawakkil to `Uthmān. In Dhū-l-Q./ July-Aug. of the same year `Uthmān sent a gift in return.
Then, towards the middle of 870/ early 1466, a deputation of Arabs from the country of Tilimsān came to Tunis and alleged that al-Mutawakkil had thrown off his allegiance and was plotting with certain nomadic tribes. They asked to have Abū-Jamīl Zayyān b. `Abdalwāid b. a. „ammū as their ruler instead. The caliph agreed, and equipped the new leader with an army, which went victoriously westward until it began the siege of Tilimsān in Rabī` II 871/ Nov.Dec. 1466. The first day a violent battle ensued, which was stopped by nightfall. The besiegers planned to take the city the next day, but were prevented from acting by a heavy rain. Then the Shaykh al-„. Abarkān (48) and the qādī (49) came out with a document of submission signed by al-Mutawakkil. The treaty made was reinforced by al-Mutawakkil's giving his daughter to `Uthmān's son. `Uthmān then turned back, leaving on 7 Sha`bān 871/ 14 March 1467. (50)
Perhaps associated with the massacre of Jews in Fez at the end of 870/ July 1466, on the occasion of the overthrow of `Abdalaqq b. Sa`īd, who had favoured them and given them positions of authority, was a bloody persecution of the Jews of Tilimsān in 1467. (51) No other event is noted until the death of al-Mutawakkil in Ąafar 873/ July-Aug. 1468. (52)
20. Abū-Tāshfīn (II) (1468)
Abū-Tashfīn, the elder son of al-Mutawakkil, succeeded him, but help power only forty days, or four months according to others, when he was deposed by his brother. (53)
21. Abū-`Abdallāh M. ath-Thābitī b. al-Mutawakkil (1468-1504)
The brother of the former, Abū-`Abdallāh continued in power until 910/ 1504. (54) In the first year of his reign he compelled the famous writer al-Wansharīsī (55) to flee from Tilimsān. During Abū-`Abdallāh's reign the theologian and Ŗūfī Muammad ibn-Yūsuf as-Sanūsī flourished and died, on 10 May 1490. The following comment of his reflects the situation of this time:
The most important thing an intelligent and discerning person can do in this difficult time is to pursue the things by which he may save his soul from an eternity in fire. That he can do only by being convinced of the dogmas professing God's unity, as has been established by the imāms of the Sunna people, who know what is best. How rare they are who have such conviction in this difficult time wherein the sea of ignorance overflows, and falsehood has spread beyond limits and thrown in every direction of the earth waves of denial of the truth, hatred for those who hold the truth, and colouring over of falsehood with deceptive trappings." (56)
No other events are recorded for abū-`Abdallāh's rule while as-Sanūsī lived. Yet it can only have been one of gradual decline. The Spanish and Portuguese were advancing from the West. The last king of Granada, Abū-`Abdallāh Muammad, surrendered to Ferdinand on 6 Jan. 1492, and shortly after went to Wahrān and then to Tilimsān, where he died on 1 Sha`bān 899/ 7 May 1494. (57) At the same the Turks were advancing from the East.
After the fall of Granada the ports of the Maghrib increased their pirate activity in the Mediterranean and their raids upon European coasts. In reaction, the European powers moved to capture the ports from which these raids originated. In 1501 the Portuguese tried but failed to capture Mars al-Kabīr around Wahrān. But in 1505 Mars al-Kabīr fell to the Spanish, and the troops sent to the rescue by Muammad ath-Thābitī arrived too late and were put to flight and their supplies captured.
Because of these events Muammad ath-Thābitī's character seems to have changed to one of despondency, manifested in sudden excesses of cruelty or plunging into the distractions of magic or the company of his friends. He was finally killed by his brothers. (58)
22. Abū-`Abdallāh Muammad b. M. ath-Thābitī (1504-1516)
During the reign of this sovereign pirate activity continued in the Mediterranean from his only remaining port, Wahrān, until 18 May 1509, when the Spanish captured it. (59) Abū-`Abdallāh went out with an army to rescue Wahrān, but was afraid to fight and turned back. The Tilimsān people vented their frustration by massacring the Europeans settled in their midst. The loss of Wahrān also meant the end of the commerce which was the source of the prosperity of Tilimsān. From then on heavy taxes and austerities made `Abdallāh's rule unpopular. As a last resort, he went personally to Spain in 1512 to negotiate with his enemies. He was received in Burgos by Ferdinand, and agreed to be his vassal and pay an annual tribute.
On the occasion of Abū-`Abdallāh's death in 923/ 1517 the people of Tilimsān raided the homes of the Jews living there, reducing them to a long and lasting misery. (60)
In the meantime Spanish occupation of the Maghrib ports, including the island of Peñon in the bay of Algiers, had led the Algerians to appeal to the Turks for help. The pirate `Arūj came to Algiers in 1515, took over the city and expanded his power over much of the surrounding territory.
23. Abū-„ammū III, b. al-Mutawakkil (1516-1528)
This uncle of the preceding ruler came to power after deposing the latter's brother Abū-Zayyān. He moved to consolidate his power by renewing the vassalship relationship of his predecessor with Charles V of Spain. Abū-„ammū's nephew, who had plotted against him but failed and fled, was set up in Tanas with the help of the Spanish, since Abū-„ammū failed to help the Spanish in their abortive attempt to take Algiers. From Algiers, `Arūj's brother Khayraddīn drove him out, but he returned. Then `Arūj himself marched against Tanas and took it, and from there turned upon Tilimsān. The shaykhs and the people welcomed `Arūj as a deliverer from the unpopular Abū-„ammū but, on taking Tilimsān, the Turks cruelly killed anyone they could lay hands on who was associated with Abū-„ammū and forbade any of the indigenous people to trade with the Spanish in their port cities, hoping thereby to starve out the Spanish and also complete the conquest of the kingdom of Tilimsān.
Abū-„ammū, who had fled to Fez before Tilimsān fell, negotiated with the Spanish in Wahrān and in Spain, promising to return to obedience to the Spanish king if he helped him recover Tilimsān. Agreement was reached, and an army of Europeans and Muslims relieved the land blockade of Wahrān, moved on to take Tilimsān and totally defeated and killed `Arūj in July 1518. Abū-„ammū returned to power under the aegis of the Spanish crown, to which he seems to have remained loyal until his death in 1528.
24. Abū-Muammad `Abdallāh b. al-Mutawakkil (1528-1540)
This brother of the former ruler changed alliances from the Spanish to the Turks in Algiers, who had gained the recognition and support of the Ottoman sultan. This action drew no reprisals, because the Spanish were occupied elsewhere at the time.
25. Abū-Zayyān Amad b. abī-Muammad `Abdallāh (1540-1550)
This younger son of the preceding ruler succeeded in preventing his elder brother Abū-`Abdallāh from inheriting the throne. The latter fled to Wahrān and won the help of the Spanish. In a first attempt to defeat his brother the Spanish army which supported him was totally defeated. In 1543 Charles V sent fresh troops, and this time they succeeded.
Abū-Zayyān fled from Tilimsān, and the Spanish army occupied it, pillaging and killing the people, while installing Abū-`Abdallāh on the throne. Abū-Zayyān fled to the west, gathered an army and came back to besiege Tilimsān. Abū-`Abdallāh went out and put him to flight once more, but upon returning found the city gates locked against him. Abandoned by his followers, he fled to the wilds where he was killed, while Abū-Zayyān was recalled to the throne at the end of 1543 or the beginning of 1544.
Abū-Zayyān allied himself with the Turks of Algiers, who had been successful in repelling Charles V's attempt to take Algiers in 1541. His reign lasted from 947-957/ 1540-1550.
26. „asan b. abī-Muammad `Abdallāh (1550-1554)
During the reign of this brother of the preceding ruler three forces were threatening the small kingdom of Tilimsān: the Turks in Algiers, the Spanish in Wahrān, and the new Moroccan dynasty of Sharīfs. The latter overran Tilimsān, but were driven out by the Turks, who set up a garrison in Tilimsān under the guise of protecting it against further attacks from Morocco.
The Turkish rule became odious, and „asan appealed to the Spanish in Wahrān for help. His appeal was discovered by the Turks, who assembled all the shaykhs, who officially deposed him. In 1555 Ąāli Ra'īs Pasha took possession of Tilimsān in the name of the Ottoman emperor Salīm II. „asan died shortly afterwards in Wahrān. His son became a Christian and went to live in Spain. Thus the dynasty of Banū-`Abdalwād came to an end.
Some teachers and Ŗūfīs of the `Abdalwād period of Tilimsān
(61)Muammad ibn-Yūsuf as-Sanūsī (d. 10 May 1490), mentioned above, was the most famous Tilimsān theologian.
Al-QalaŖādī, author of many books and a master of as-Sanūsī, taught in Tilimsān from 1427 to 1447.
Abarkān, mentioned above, was a famous Ŗūfī and master of as-Sanūsī and died in November 1453. His advice and blessing was sought by Abū-`Abdallāh and Abū-Fāris, but he refused gifts from these rulers and kept his independence.
At-Tanasī, a historian of this period, died in Meb.-March 1494.
Al-Wansharīsī, an important historian, lived in Tilimsān until 11 July 1469, when he fell out with the ruler ath-Thābitī and had to flee to Fez; there he died in 1508 at the age of around 80.
Ibn-Marzūq (al-kafīf), was the father of a family of learned men famous through North and West Africa; he died in 1495/6.
NOTES
1. Note particularly two pertinent books of J.J.L. Bargčs, Histoire des Beni-Zeiyan, rois de Tlemcen (Paris, 1852) and Complément de l'histoire des Beni-Zeiyan (Paris, 1887); these works are very uncritical from the point of view of transliteration, consistency of facts and dates, and citation of sources. Yet they supply some information from now untraceable manuscripts, particularly an appendix to Yayā ibn-Khaldūn, which cannot be otherwise found.
2. See especially Georges Marçais, "La Berbčrie du VIIe au XVIe sičcle," conférence faite ą la séance d'ouverture du Deuxičme Congrčs nationale des Sciences Historiques, Alger, 14 avril 1930, in Mélanges d'histoire et d'archéologie de l'occident musulmane, v. 1, Articles et conférences de Georges Marçais (Algiers, 1957), pp. 17-22; "Abd-al-Wādids," EI2 , Tlemcen (Paris, 1950).
3. J. Kenny, Muslim theology as presented by M. ibn-Yūsuf as-Sanūsī, especially in his al-`Aqīda al-wus³ā (University of Edinburgh, 1970).
4. See Histoire des Berbčres, III, p. 334 and note 3.
5. Cf. Bargčs, Histoire, lix-lx, who follows Abū-`Abdallāh al-Abbelli (see Histoire des Berbčres, III, p. 36), the teacher of the two Ibn-Khaldūns,for the first two forms, and a ms by Yy. b. Khaldūn, Bughya ar-ruwwād, fol. 20r, and "Meracid el Ittilā, ms. of the Bibliothčque Nationale, suppl. arabe, n. 891, p. 134" for the third.
6. Cf. O. MacCarthy, on p. 33, note 1, of Ibn-Khaldūn, Histoire des Berbčres, t. 3.
7. Cf. Bargčs, Complément, p. 5, note.
8. Cf. Bargčs, Complément, p. 5.
9. Cf. Bargčs, Histoire, ch. 20.
10. Histoire des Berbčres, 3, p. 328.
11. BN 48b.
12. He was "ibn-`amm ¹ayyān wālid Yaghmurāsan ibn-Zayyān," ibid.
13. Ff. 48b.
14. "Laysa la-hā illā mā ubbu-hā", At-Tanasī, f. 49a.
15. Ibn-Khaldūn, Histoire, 3, p. 350.
16. Ibn-Khaldūn, Histoire, 3, p. 353-4; cf. Bargčs, Complément, 18-19, after Yayā ibn-Khaldūn.
17. At-Tanasī, f. 51a; the text has "Abū-Sa`īd", but the margin corrects this name to Abū-āmir.
18. The following chronology of Abū-Sa`īd's activities is from Yayā b. Khaldūn in Bargčs, Complément, 28-37.
19. Or "al-Mahdiyya", according to at-Tanasī, f. 51a.
20. In his Ar-rila al-maghribiyya; cf. Bargčs, Complément, 29; tr. Cherbonneau in Revue Africaine, n. 28 (1880), p. 288.
21. Yayā b. Khaldūn; cf. Bargčs, Complément, 39.
22. At-Tanasī, f. 52a, follows the author of Durar al-ghurar in placing Abū-Zayyān's death before the end of the siege, but notes that Yayā ibn-Khaldūn, in Bughya ar-ruwwād places his death after the siege; so do Ibn-Khaldūn, Histoire, 3, 382, and the author of Qir³ās; cf. Bargčs, Complément, 39.
23. At-Tanasī, f. 57b.
24. Y. b. Khaldūn; Bargčs, Compl., 50.
25. At-Tanasī, f. 52a and Y. b. Khaldūn, according to Bargčs, Compl., 52; "al-Ghuzz" indicates a Western Turkestan origin. Ibn-Khaldūn has "al-Kurdī" (p. 394).
26. Y. b. Khaldūn gives the 21st; Bargčs, Compl., 55.
27. Ibid., 69.
28. Ibid., 69-70.
29. At-Tanasī, f. 53a.
30. Y. b. Khaldūn; Bargčs, Compl., 129.
31. Cf. Bargčs, Compl., 134-8, for Y. b. Khaldūn's detailed account of the defeat and capture of Abū-Thābit.
32. Bargčs, Compl., 157.
33. Y. b. Khaldūn; Bargčs, Compl., 159-60.
34. These details of Abū-„ammū's imprisonment to his death are found in Bargčs, Compl., taken from the marginal notes added by the copyist of Bargčs ms. of Y. b. Khaldūn.
35. Cf. Ibn-Maryam, al-Bustān fī dhikr al-awliyā' wa-l-`ulamā' bi-Tilimsān (Algiers, 1908), p. 76 (on Abarkān).
36. Muammad az-Zarkashī, Ta'rīkh ba ² ad-dawla al-muwaidiyya wa-nubūgh ad-dawla al-„afŖiyya wa-dhikr man malak min-hum (Paris: Bibliothčque Nationale, ms. 1874), f. 81a-b.
37. Az-Zarkashī, ff. 81b-82a.
38. On the last point see Bargčs, Compl., p. 228, who follows an appendix to "his" manuscript of Yy. b. Khaldūn.
39. Az-Zarkashī, f. 83b.
40. Cf. Bargčs, Compl., pp. 295-6, who follows the same appendix.
41. Cf. Kenny, op. cit., I, C, b.
42. Cf. at-Tanasī, ff. 72a-73a. At-Tanasī says it was on a Friday, but this date is a Thursday.
43. Ff. 72a ff.; cf. Ibn-Maryam, 74, 87-8.
44. For varying accounts of his death, see az-Zarkashī, f. 84b, and Ibn-Maryam, pp. 231-232.
45. Cf. `Abdalbāsi³ b. Khalāl, ar-Raw² al-bāsim fī awādith al-`umr wa-t-tarājim, ed. & tr. by Robert Brunschvig, Deux récits de voyage inédits en Afrique du Nord au XVe sičcle, `Abdalbāsi³et Adorne (Paris, 1936), p. 69 ff. See also Brunschvig, La Berbčrie orientale sous les „afŖides des origines ą la fin du XVe sičcle, v. 1, pp. 260-262.
46. Cf. at-Tanasī, ff. 73a-77b. With these incidents the account of At-Tanasī ends.
47. See J. Kenny, op. cit., D, b, n. 8.
48. See Kenny, ibid., D, b, n. 8.
49. It is not indicated whether this is M. b. A. al-`Uqbānī or his successor I. b. Q. al-`Uqbānī; see below, D, b, nos. 8 and 9.
50. Az-Zarkashī, ff. 102b-105a.
51. Spoken of by Bargčs, Compl., pp. 419-420, note; he gives no source for his information.
52. According to Bargčs, Compl., p. 398, again following a note on "his" manuscript of Yy. b. Khaldūn; see p. 412 to correct a mistaken figure on p. 398. Georges Marçais, in "`Abd-al-Wādids," EI2 , also gives 873/ 1468, apparently following Bargčs.
53. Cf. Bargčs, Coml., p. 401, who gives no source references. He is followed by G. Marçais in "`Abdal-Wādids," EI2 .
54. Cf. G. Marçais, ibid.
55. See below, D, b, n. 6.
56. Al-`āqīda aŖ-Ŗughrā, with „āshiya of M. b. A. b. `Arafa ad-Dasūqī (Cairo: „alabī, 1358/ 1939), introduction, pp. 14-15.
57. The date is from his funeral monument, used as a lintel of a door; cf. M.C. Brosselard, "Mémoire épigraphique et historique sur les tombeaux des āmirs Bani-Zaiyan et de Boabdil, dernier roi de Granade, découverts ą Tlemcen," J.A., 7ičme série, v. 7 (1876), 178.
58. Ibn-Maryam, p. 266; Brosselard cites "la tradition" for the date of ath-Thābitī's death.
59. A. de C. Motylinski, "Expédition de Pedro de Navarre et de Garcia de Toledo contre Djerba (1510) d'aprčs les sources abadhites," Actes du XIVe Contrčs International des Orientalistes, Alger 1905 (Paris: Leroux, 1908), part 3, pp. 133-167; Arabic text, p. 134. The capture of Wahrān is also described by Leo Africanus.
60. Leo Africanus.
61. For more information on these and other men of this period, see J. Kenny, op. cit., I, D.